TRV
Translation
In the KJVVerse 15,552 of 31,102
Study This Verse
Commentary on Psalms 103 verses 1–5
1 ¶ A Psalm of David. Bless the LORD, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name.
2 Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits:
3 Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases;
4 Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies;
5 Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle's.
David is here communing with his own heart, and he is no fool that thus talks to himself and excites his own soul to that which is good. Observe,
I. How he stirs up himself to the duty of praise, Psa 103:1, Psa 103:2. 1. It is the Lord that is to be blessed and spoken well of; for he is the fountain of all good, whatever are the channels or cisterns; it is to his name, his holy name, that we are to consecrate our praise, giving thanks at the remembrance of his holiness. 2. It is the soul that is to be employed in blessing God, and all that is within us. We make nothing of our religious performances if we do not make heart-work of them, if that which is within us, nay, if all that is within us, be not engaged in them. The work requires the inward man, the whole man, and all little enough. 3. In order to our return of praises to God, there must be a grateful remembrance of the mercies we have received from him: Forget not all his benefits. If we do not give thanks for them, we do forget them; and that is unjust as well as unkind, since in all God's favours there is so much that is memorable. "O my soul! to thy shame be it spoken, thou hast forgotten many of his benefits; but surely thou wilt not forget them all, for thou shouldst not have forgotten any."
II. How he furnishes himself with abundant matter for praise, and that which is very affecting: "Come, my soul, consider what God has done for thee." 1. "He has pardoned thy sins (Psa 103:3); he has forgiven, and does forgive, all thy iniquities." This is mentioned first because by the pardon of sin that is taken away which kept good things from us, and we are restored to the favour of God, which bestows good things on us. Think what the provocation was; it was iniquity, and yet pardoned; how many the provocations were, and yet all pardoned. He has forgiven all our trespasses. It is a continued act; he is still forgiving, as we are still sinning and repenting. 2. "He has cured thy sickness." The corruption of nature is the sickness of the soul; it is its disorder, and threatens its death. This is cured in sanctification; when sin is mortified, the disease is healed; though complicated, it is all healed. Our crimes were capital, but God saves our lives by pardoning them; our diseases were mortal, but God saves our lives by healing them. These two go together; for, as for God, his work is perfect and not done by halves; if God take away the guilt of sin by pardoning mercy, he will break the power of it by renewing grace. Where Christ is made righteousness to any soul he is made sanctification, Co1 1:30. 3. "He has rescued thee from danger." A man may be in peril of life, not only by his crimes, or his diseases, but by the power of his enemies; and therefore here also we experience the divine goodness: Who redeemed thy life from destruction (Psa 103:4), from the destroyer, from hell (so the Chaldee), from the second death. The redemption of the soul is precious; we cannot compass it, and therefore are the more indebted to divine grace that has wrought it out, to him who has obtained eternal redemption for us. See Job 33:24, Job 33:28. 4. "He has not only saved thee from death and ruin, but has made thee truly and completely happy, with honour, pleasure, and long life." (1.) "He has given thee true honour and great honour, no less than a crown: He crowns thee with his lovingkindness and tender mercies;" and what greater dignity is a poor soul capable of than to be advanced into the love and favour of God? This honour have all his saints. What is the crown of glory but God's favour? (2.) "He has given thee true pleasure: He satisfies thy mouth with good things" (Psa 103:5); it is only the favour and grace of God that can give satisfaction to a soul, can suit its capacities, supply its needs, and answer to its desires. Nothing but divine wisdom can undertake to fill its treasures (Pro 8:21); other things will surfeit, but not satiate, Ecc 6:7; Isa 55:2. (3.) "He has given thee a prospect and pledge of long life: Thy youth is renewed like the eagle's." The eagle is long-lived, and, as naturalists say, when she is nearly 100 years old, casts all her feathers (as indeed she changes them in a great measure every year at moulting time), and fresh ones come, so that she becomes young again. When God, by the graces and comforts of his Spirit, recovers his people from their decays, and fills them with new life and joy, which is to them an earnest of eternal life and joy, then they may be said to return to the days of their youth, Job 33:25.
Matthew Henry (1662–1714) — Commentary on the Whole Bible. This section covers verses 1–5. Public domain.
Copy as
Ambrose of MilanAD 397
The Six Days of Creation
However, rightly so, a man has not many, but two feet; for four feet belong to wild animals and beasts, and two to birds. Therefore, a man is like a bird, who seeks lofty things with his sight and flies with a certain stroke of the senses' keenness. And therefore it is said about him: Your youth will be renewed like the eagle's; because he is closer to heavenly things and higher than eagles, who can say: But our conversation is in heaven.
Ambrose of MilanAD 397
Concerning Repentance 2.2.8
And that the writer was speaking of baptism is evident from the very words in which it is stated that it is impossible to renew to repentance those who were fallen, inasmuch as we are renewed by means of the laver of baptism, whereby we are born again, as Paul says: “For we are buried with him through baptism into death, that, as Christ rose from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we, too, should walk in newness of life.” And in another place: “Be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new person that is created after God.” And elsewhere again: “Your youth shall be renewed like the eagle,” because the phoenix after death is born again from its ashes, as we being dead in sin are through the sacrament of baptism born again to God and created anew. So, then, here as elsewhere, he teaches one baptism. “One faith,” he says, “one baptism.”
Ambrose of MilanAD 397
DEATH AS A GOOD 5:16
But let us speak of death as common to all people. Why should we be afraid of it, when it generally does not harm the soul? For it is written, “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul.” Now through death the soul is freed, while it separates itself from the dwelling place of the body and divests itself of the wrappings of disquiet. And so let us too, while we are in the body, following the way of death, raise up our bodies from this fleshly couch and arise from the tomb, as it were. Let us withdraw from the bond of the body and leave all things whatsoever that are of earth, so that when the adversary comes he may find nothing of his in us. Let us strive for the eternal and fly up to the divine on the wings of love and the oars of charity. Let us rise up from here, that is, from the things of the age and those of the world. For the Lord has said, “Arise, let us go from here,” teaching that each one should arise from the earth, raise up his soul that lies on the ground, lift it to the things that are above and call forth his eagle, the eagle of whom it is said, “Your youth will be renewed like the eagle’s.”
Augustine of HippoAD 430
Exposition on Psalm 103
"Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His rewards" [Psalm 103:2]. But the rewards of the Lord cannot be before your eyes unless your sins are before your eyes. Let not delight in past sin be before your eyes, but let the condemnation of sin be before your eyes: condemnation from you, forgiveness from God. For thus God rewards you, so that you may say, "How shall I reward the Lord for all His rewards unto me?" This it was that the martyrs considering (whose memory we are this day celebrating), and all the saints who have despised this life, and as you have heard in the Epistle of St. John, laid down their lives for the brethren, which is the perfection of love, [1 John 3:16] even as our Lord says: "Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends:" [John 15:13] this the holy martyrs, then, considering, despised their lives here, that they might find them there, following our Lord's words when He said, "He that loves his life, shall lose it; and he that loses his life for My sake, shall keep it unto life eternal.". .."Forget not," he says, "all His rewards:" not awards, but "rewards." For something else was due, and what was not due has been paid. Whence also these words: "What," he asks, "shall I reward the Lord for all His rewards unto me?" You have rewarded good with evil; He rewards evil with good. How have you, O man, rewarded your God with evil for good? You who has once been a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious, [1 Timothy 1:13] hast rewarded blasphemies. For what good things? First, because you are: but a stone also is. Next, because you live, but a brute also lives. What reward will you give the Lord, for His having created you above all the cattle; and above all the fowls of the air, in His image and likeness? [Genesis 1:26-27] Seek not how to reward Him: give back unto Him His own image: He requires no more; He demands His own coin. [Matthew 22:21] ...
Maximus of TurinAD 465
SERMON 55:1
Brothers, let your holiness keep in mind that I recently preached this, namely that a person should be remolded into a younger age through righteousness, and though wearied by the weakness of old age he should be born again into childhood by the character of innocence in such a way that we may see old people become infants again by the mystery that intervenes, for there is a certain renewal in ceasing to be what you were and to take up what you had previously been. I say, there is renewal, which is also why neophytes receive their name, because in some newness they cast off the spots of oldness and have received the grace of innocence, as the apostle says, “Put off the old person with his deeds and put on the new person, who was created in the image of God.” Thus also holy David says, “Your youth will be renewed like that of an eagle.” He understands that the perishable things of our life can be revived through the grace of baptism and that that which had fallen by the oldness of sins can be renewed by a certain youthfulness. But that you may understand that the prophet is speaking about the grace of baptism, he compared the renewal itself to an eagle, a bird which is said to lead a long life by constantly changing its appearance and to grow young with a new set of wings when the old feathers are dying off, in such a way that it clothes itself with a revived newness of clothing as it puts off its old plumage. Thus we understand that it is not the limbs but rather the feathers of the eagle that feel old age. Therefore, it clothes itself anew, and as feathers sprout up anew, the old mother is turned back into a chick. Then she must be compared to chicks, since she with shining feathers must plan inexperienced flights and restrain her once experienced beatings of her wings as if she were a newborn, idle bird in the nest. For although she knows how to fly from her past practice, she nonetheless has little confidence because of the thinness of her feathers. Therefore, the holy psalmist prophesied this concerning the grace of baptism. Our neophytes, recently baptized, have (like eagles) put off the old skin and taken on the new clothing of holiness and are adorned with the revived grace of immortality as with light feathers, while their old blemishes die off, so that in them the dead sins of old age grow old, but life des not grow old, for like an eagle turned back into a chick, they have been called back to infancy. They know about how to live in this age, but they have the carefree state that comes from the healing of righteousness.
Fulgentius of RuspeAD 533
LETTER 7:4
Who does not see how impious and how sacrilegious it is if a person, who has been converted to good things through penance for his past evils, believes that there can be no forgiveness for any sin? What else is being done with these words than that the hand of the all-powerful physician is being pushed away by the vice of despair, from effecting human salvation? For the physician himself says, “Those who are healthy do not need a physician, but the sick do.” If our physician is an expert, he can cure all maladies. If God is merciful, he can forgive all sins. A goodness that does not conquer every evil is not a perfect goodness, nor is a medicine perfect for which any disease is incurable. It is written in the sacred writings, “Against wisdom, evil does not prevail”; and the omnipotence of our physician is made known by such words in the psalm: “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and do not forget all his benefits—who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, who satisfies you with good as long as you live so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.” What, I ask, do we think cannot be forgiven us when the Lord forgives all our iniquities? Or what do we think cannot be healed in us, when the Lord heals all our diseases? Or how is there anything still lacking to the healed and justified person whose desire is satisfied with good things? Or how is he not believed to gain the benefit of complete forgiveness to whom a crown is given together with love and mercy? Therefore, let no one despairing of the physician remain in his infirmity; let no one, downplaying the mercy of God, waste away in iniquities. The apostle calls out that “Christ died for the ungodly.”
Source: Quotations drawn from early Church Fathers and historical Christian theologians (AD 100–1500). Some quotes address the surrounding passage context rather than this verse alone.
Copy as
Continue studying Psalms 103:2 across the web’s major study libraries — every link below opens this exact verse, chapter, or book on the destination site.
Read & Compare
BibleGatewayThis verse in more than 200 translations and 70 languages.
Bible.comThe YouVersion reader — hundreds of translations, reading plans, and highlights.
ESV.orgCrossway's official English Standard Version reader.
NET BibleThe NET translation with 60,000+ translators' notes on every rendering decision.
STEP BibleTyndale House's free study tool — original text, vocabulary, and scholarly resources.
BibliaLogos Bible Software's free web reader.
USCCBThe New American Bible (Revised Edition) with the U.S. bishops' study notes.
Commentaries
BibleHub CommentariesDozens of classic commentaries on this verse, gathered on one page.
StudyLightMore than 100 commentary sets — the largest collection on the web.
BibleRefPlain-English commentary on what this verse means, verse by verse.
Enduring WordDavid Guzik's free commentary on this chapter, widely used by Bible teachers.
Bible Study ToolsVerse commentary alongside Greek and Hebrew study aids.
Original Language & Research
- BibleHub InterlinearThe verse word by word — original language, transliteration, and English.
- BibleHub LexiconEvery word's original-language definition and Strong's entry.
Blue Letter BibleDeep-study tools — Strong's numbers, concordance, and word studies.
SefariaThe Hebrew text with Rashi and centuries of Jewish commentary.
Sermons, Hymns & Audio
TrulyRandomVerse is not affiliated with these sites and doesn’t control their content. They’re linked because they’re genuinely useful.
SUMMARY
Psalms 103:2 is a profound self-exhortation from the psalmist, a direct command to his innermost being to actively engage in worship and to diligently recall the countless acts of divine goodness. This verse serves as a foundational call to intentional gratitude, urging the soul to combat spiritual amnesia by constantly remembering God's benevolent provisions and merciful dealings, thereby fueling a continuous and robust posture of praise and adoration.
CONTEXT
EXPOSITION AND ANALYSIS
Key Word Analysis
Verse Breakdown
Literary Devices
The verse employs several impactful Literary Devices that amplify its message. The most prominent is Apostrophe, where the psalmist directly addresses his own "soul" ("O my soul"). This rhetorical device creates a sense of profound intimacy, urgency, and internal resolve, transforming the command from an external instruction into an internal, self-imposed discipline. The use of the Imperative Mood in both "Bless" and "forget not" underscores the active and volitional nature of worship and remembrance; these are not passive states but deliberate choices requiring conscious engagement. Furthermore, the two clauses work in close Parallelism, forming a thematic connection where the act of blessing the Lord is inextricably linked to, and indeed fueled by, the remembrance of His benefits. The "soul" can also be seen as a Synecdoche, where a part (the soul, as the seat of inner life) represents the whole person, emphasizing that this call to praise and remembrance should involve every aspect of one's being—mind, will, and emotions.
THEOLOGICAL AND THEMATIC CONNECTIONS
Psalms 103:2 stands as a theological cornerstone, asserting that authentic worship is not merely an emotional outburst but a disciplined act of remembrance rooted in God's demonstrated goodness. It connects the human responsibility to praise with the divine reality of God's unfailing benevolence, establishing a reciprocal relationship where God's giving inspires human gratitude and adoration. This verse underscores the biblical emphasis on remembering God's covenant faithfulness as the antidote to spiritual forgetfulness, which often leads to disobedience, despair, and a loss of identity. The "benefits" are not just material blessings but encompass God's redemptive acts, His forgiveness, His steadfast love, and His providential care, forming the bedrock of a thankful heart and a vibrant, enduring faith. It teaches that true praise flows from a heart that actively recalls and cherishes God's comprehensive goodness.
REFLECTION AND APPLICATION
Psalms 103:2 offers a timeless blueprint for cultivating a life of deep gratitude and sustained worship, serving as a powerful counter-cultural directive in a world prone to distraction, complaint, and spiritual amnesia. This verse calls us to an intentional, disciplined practice of remembrance. It challenges us to move beyond a superficial acknowledgment of blessings to a deliberate, heartfelt recall of God's specific acts of kindness, provision, and faithfulness in our lives, both personally and corporately. This active remembering transforms our perspective, shifting our focus from what we perceive as lacking to what we have abundantly received, from our anxieties to God's enduring and meticulous care. By consciously enumerating God's "benefits"—His forgiveness, healing, protection, guidance, daily mercies, and the gift of salvation—we fortify our faith, deepen our trust, and fuel a genuine, overflowing praise that emanates from the core of our being. This practice guards against the spiritual forgetfulness that can erode our joy and diminish our sense of God's presence, ensuring that our praise is not merely a fleeting emotion but a robust, well-founded response to His unwavering goodness and faithfulness.
Questions for Reflection
FAQ
What does it mean for a human to "bless" God?
Answer: When a human "blesses" God, it is an act of profound adoration, praise, and homage. It does not mean that we impart good to God, as He is the ultimate source of all good and needs nothing from us. Rather, it is our acknowledgment of His supreme worth, His majesty, and His graciousness. It involves expressing heartfelt gratitude, reverence, and honor for who He is and for all He has done. It is a posture of humility and worship, recognizing His sovereignty and His benevolent acts towards us, as meticulously enumerated throughout Psalm 103.
What are some of God's "benefits" mentioned in Psalm 103?
Answer: While Psalms 103:2 broadly states "all his benefits," the subsequent verses of Psalm 103 elaborate on many of them. These include: forgiveness of all sins (Psalms 103:3), healing of all diseases (Psalms 103:3), redemption from destruction (Psalms 103:4), crowning with lovingkindness and tender mercies (Psalms 103:4), satisfying one's mouth with good things (Psalms 103:5), executing righteousness and judgment for the oppressed (Psalms 103:6), and His compassion, slowness to anger, and abounding mercy (Psalms 103:8). These benefits demonstrate God's active, personal, and covenantal care for His people.
Why is it so important not to "forget" God's benefits?
Answer: Forgetting God's benefits can lead to spiritual amnesia, which has severe consequences for one's faith and relationship with God. When we forget, we become prone to ingratitude, murmuring, and a diminished sense of God's active presence and care in our lives. This can lead to a lack of trust during trials, a weakening of faith, and even a turning away from God, as frequently warned against in the Old Testament (e.g., Deuteronomy 6:12). Actively remembering God's past faithfulness and goodness, however, cultivates a heart of gratitude, strengthens our trust in His character, and fuels our praise, enabling us to persevere with joy and hope, even in the midst of adversity. It anchors our faith in His unchanging nature.
CHRIST-CENTERED FULFILLMENT
Psalms 103:2, with its urgent call to "bless the LORD" and "forget not all his benefits," finds its ultimate and most profound fulfillment in the person and redemptive work of Jesus Christ. While the Old Testament psalmist celebrated God's goodness through the lens of the Old Covenant, the New Testament reveals that the greatest and most comprehensive of God's "benefits" are fully realized and made accessible in Christ. The forgiveness of sins, which Psalm 103 mentions, is perfectly and eternally secured through the atoning sacrifice of the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world. The healing of diseases points forward to Christ's ministry of healing and His ultimate victory over sin and death, which brings ultimate spiritual and physical restoration. Redemption from destruction, a benefit in the Old Testament, is fully accomplished by Christ's resurrection, delivering us from the power of sin, death, and the grave, offering us newness of life. In Christ, we are not merely crowned with "lovingkindness and tender mercies" but are adopted as sons and daughters, receiving "every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places" (Ephesians 1:3) and the promise of eternal life. Our ability to truly "bless the LORD" with our whole soul is now profoundly empowered by the Holy Spirit, who enables us to understand and appropriate the immeasurable "benefits" of salvation, reconciliation, and intimate fellowship with God found only in Jesus. Therefore, our praise is not merely a remembrance of past deeds but a grateful response to the living reality of God's ultimate benefit—His Son, through whom we have "redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace" (Ephesians 1:7).